Hydraulic cheese press



sept. 15, 1936. L STEINBACH 2,054,304

- HYbRAULIUCHEESE PRESS I Filed April l, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1L-IE. If

ATTORNEY Sept, l5, 1936.`

K J.l L. STI-:INBACH HYDRAULIC CHEESE PRESS Filed April' 1,'1935 2sheets-Sheng /NVENTo/e F Ja/m/L. 6TH/V545# BY @gf/w29@ Q- -Jf ATTORNEYPatented Sept. 15, 1936 d` UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HYDRAULIC ,CHEESEPRESS John L. Steinbach, Tillamook, Oreg. Application April'l, 1035,serial No. 14,019

6 claims. (o1. 121-38) My invention relates to the well-known cheeseVpress and has -for its principal object a device for utilizinghydraulic pressure instead of the-customary screw or ratchet device, andin connection therewith includes means for gradually and progressivelyincreasing the pressure and means for determining a high pressure limit.Y

The above Vand other objects will be immediately apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which this invention appertains and may beparticularly ascertained by the claims.

The following drawings accompany and form a part of this specification,in which,-

Fig. Iis a diagrammatic representation of a cheese press equipped withhydraulic power applying means; Y

Fig. II is a section on line II-II of Fig. I;

Fig. III is a Section on the line III-,III of Fig. I; vbeing a view inthe opposite direction from `the view shown by Fig. Il; Y Y f Fig. IV isa plan view of the press as shown in Fig. I; and l Fig. V isran enlargedview ofv my new control device. l ,Y 25, One of the principal purposesof applying pressure to cheese curds to form the. curds into cheeses isto force out surplus moisture, which adds to the keeping and otherdesirable qualities of the cheese. p

It is also necessary to get best results that this pressure be appliedgradually starting at a comparatively low pressure such as 15 pounds persquare inch of area of a cheese case and Very gradually increasing thatpressure over a period 5 of hours up to as much as Say 50 pounds persquare inch or more dependent on the quality of the curds and also uponthe desired moisture content of the finished cheese.

In the drawings, I is a hydraulic cylinder containing a reciprocatingpiston therein which is not shown and which is operatively connected tothe piston rod 2, and power is applied by the piston rod 2 to the presshead 3 in the Well known manner.

A four way valve 4 operable by a handle 5 is provided so that waterpressure may be delivered by the inlet pipe 6 and directed to either endof the hydraulic cylinder I, by means of the pipe 1 or 8, the firstnamed being used to apply pressure to the cheese cases 8, and the secondnamed being for the purpose of reversing the pressure in the cylinder Ito withdraw the head when removing the contents of the press forrecharging.

I0 is a discharge or waste pipe which will lead to any convenient placefor disposition of the waste water used by the hydraulic cylinder I.

Interposed in the supply pipe 6 will be a pressure reducing valve I2, atypical diagrammatic sketch of which is shown in Fig. V, which shows5.,;

a valve of the diaphragm type having a diaphragm I3 and a double beatvalve I4 that is controlled by the diaphragm and in this valve the pipe6 will be presumed to be connected to a source of hydraulic pressure atleast equal to the maximum 10-1.

pressure required. Y

The center lines 66 diagrammatically indicate how the reducing valve ofFig. V is attached to the four-way valve 4, Fig. IV, to deliver reducedpressure thereto. Y Y

The pipe 6 will be-continued to connect to the press at valve 4.. Thediaphragm I3 will be loaded by the spring I 4 adjustable by theadjusting screw I5. A fixed setting of this screw I5 may be Ifor theinitial ipressure required. The yscrew I5 is 20 shown to have aninternal bore I6 through which is slidably mounted a. pressure rod I'Iconnected to an eye I 8, provided with a pivot I9, whereby it mayVreceive force from a lever 20.

The lever 2liv is pivoted at 2|.to aY link 22, in 25A4 turn pivoted tothe diaphragm casing 23 by the` pivot 24. The lever will preferably besupplied' with a plurality of holes .near its free end, such as 25.Suitable means for suspending a container, such as 26, is shown by theclevis 2l. A 30 cylinder I. 40

The container 26 may be provided with a series of openings such as 30and any convenient means such as separate plugs may be employed to closeone or several of the lower openings such as 30 to increase the quantitythat the container 26 45 will hold before reaching an overow point.'I'his or any other convenient means may be used to, limit the ultimatecapacity of the container.

Obviously a container of predetermined weight when full of water, andwithout any means for 50 changing the normal water level, may besubstituted for one having means within itself to regg ulate itsultimate contents.

The metering valve 28 may be so adjusted to add a definite quantity ofwater to the container 55 Vzo 26 in a definite timeY and if the pressureis intended to Vincrease Vover a period of six or seven hours or eightYhours or any other length of' time, during the night for example, whenno attendant is about to shut the metering Valve off, then when thecontents of the container such as 26 reaches a predetermined overflowpoint no further Weight Wllbe added to it and the pressure onthehydraulic Vcylinder l, and consequently the force exerted by it, willhave reached a predetermined Y maximum and remain constant `until theperson in charge of the apparatus manipulates the device as a whole tochange its operating conditions.

Mercury may be used instead of Water which` Would require a very muchsmaller container and Vthe container may be applied directly tothe rodl1 Without the intervention of any lever such as 27D, and Various otherchanges may be made without departing from the principle of thisinvention.

A Ydevicer of this' character is easily calibrated since'a dropA ofWaterr or minim is a definite quantity and the number of drops ina poundof Wateris Wellknown. Thus a metering valve such as 28 may be readilyadjusted'to deliver almost an exact quantity of Water'during a givenperiod of Y time.

YThis deviceV isV believed far superior toclockwork or electricaldevices since cheese factories Yare frequently located in ruraldistricts Where electric service is notfavailable, and it isrbelieved topossess none of the inrmities inherent in clock'work'andescapementdevices for gradually increasing pressure by even increments over adefinite period of time and for haltingV such increase of pressure Whenadeslredmaximurn is reached. Y Y

As vhereinbefore statedrit is not theintention to' limitV this device tothe specific structure shown but` only to the mechanical equivalentthereof asv dened in thefollowing claims.

Having thus described my invention so 'that those skilled inthe art towhich it appertains may easily construct, use and receive the benefitsthereof, Ywhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is- Y V1.V A regulating arrangement for a hydraulic ing valve in saidconnections, adjustable spring means for determining an; initialpressure controlled by said reducing valve and means for additionallyloading said reducing valve by a metered supply of hydraulic iluid overa period oi.' time.

3. In; a cheese press, a hydraulic motor for applying pressure thereto,a hydraulic pressure supply means for said motor, a reducing valveintermediate'theY supply means and the motor, a. container arranged toload said reducing valve and means for delivering a metered" supply ofAfluid load to said container to adjust thereducing valveA to deliver agradually increasing pressure.-

`4. The combination according'to claim 3 and including means tolimit-the capacity of the container and its ultimate effect on thereducing valve.

5. ,Af dual reducing valve control' for a presscom:

prising arspring `for initially adjusting thevalve, aweight applyingcontainer arranged'to independently affect the valve and add its'influence to that of the spring, metering'means to gradually increasethe Weight of the container by adding fluidvthereto and variable meansfor limiting thel ultimate contents of thev container.

6.'A control for pres-sure systems comprising a reducing valve forreducing pressure from a uid pressure source, spring Ymeans forinitiallyfdeter'- mining the reduced pressure, a weight system thatincludes a container independently applied to the' reducing valve to addinuence of its'weight to the influence of the spring to increasedelivered pres-v sure and means for gradually increasingv the Weight bydirecting a metered supply of fluid into the container. Y

f JOHN L. STEINBACH.

